Moving to RAID1

[krad]

On 30 October 2010 08:40, Jerrin <slackmails at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I get this error now when trying to insert the disk
>
> # gmirror insert gm0 /dev/ad14
> gmirror: Provider ad14 too small.
>
> found this error is being mentioned before on the mailing lists.
> hard disks are of the same size.couldn't find a solution for this one.
> Any way to fix this?
>
> Thank you
> Rihaz
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 8:49 PM, Adam Vande More <amvandemore at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Jerrin <slackmails at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> i have a freebsd(7.3) dedicated server with one hard disk.It have
> >> partitions
> >> for root and swap only.I want to setup RAID1 by adding one more hard
> >> disk.i
> >> found in freebsd handbook about setting up RAID1
> >> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/geom-mirror.html .I only have
> remote
> >> access to the server.Will i lose data by doing it?
> >
> >
> > If you do it correct way you will not.  It's possible if you make a
> mistake
> > and do something like mirror the wrong way you would.
> >
> >
> >> Anyways to make  sure in
> >> the procedure of setting up raid1 that i shouldn't have to go single
> user
> >> mode or change something at the boot prompt when rebooting after this is
> >> setup.
> >>
> >
> > Again if you do it incorrectly you may need to resort to these
> procedures.
> > However if you follow the handbook accurately you should be fine.
> >
> > --
> > Adam Vande More
> >
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not all disks are equal unfortunately, even if they say they are. One of the
drives may be a few blocks smaller but thats enough.

What I would do is slice up the smaller disk as you see fit.
Create the  mirror with only one disk/slice in it.
newfs and mount the new mirror up
Copy all the data from the bigger disk to the smaller one (rsync -aP /big/
/small/ would do the job nicely).
Sanitize what you have done 8)
umount the bigger disk
slice up the same as the 1st disk
add to the mirror (should add as its bigger)

This is all assuming the filesystem(s) you are doing isnt the root fs. If it
is you are going to have to make a trip with some kind of live cd/usb stick.
If you are lucky you might be able to use any remote management card on the
system eg dell drac. However whichever way you do it it will involve
downtime 8(